Will Your Heart Rate Become Your New Form of Identification?

Biometrics are not something new to us. In the world of computing and smartphones, we are all used to using our fingerprint or even handprint to unlock a phone, clock in at work and so on. There are currently a few biometrics that reign supreme in the world of tech.

These are facial, retinal and fingerprint scans. This system may be changing thanks to the scientists at the University of Buffalo. They have been working on inventing a new type of biometric that would simply be able to identify you from the dimensions of your heart and your heartbeat.

Using low-level Doppler radar, the system would first measure the heart of the user. Those measurements are completely individual, and would help to make sure no one else could get into your device. The scientists have stated that this method is safer in practice than traditional passwords or other biometric identifiers.

The researchers of the project have also stated that this technology could be used in several applications such as airport screening barricades and smart phones.

The radar used in the device has worried some as it does produce some radioactivity, but the users can sleep soundly knowing that the radar in the system is “much less than WiFi” according to the lead author of the study, Wenyao Xu.

In around eight seconds, the system can identify the first initial scan and can then continuously monitor the heart. The system has many benefits to it such as being one of the first passive non-contact devices. The system is incredibly good at knowing which user is which and is supposedly one of the safest methods out there.

With security being one of the largest issues in today’s time, any system that promises a safer alternative to what we have now is one that people can get behind.